


through her stomach

by Vallern



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-13 16:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9132457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vallern/pseuds/Vallern
Summary: Lena tries to gain Kara's affection through food.(And she succeeds.)





	1. donuts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cloud_Lightning](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud_Lightning/gifts).



> For CL: mak maap lama banget baru dikasih, maklum orang sibuk ;_; lo baca deh nih, gue juga laper nulisnya
> 
> It's part of [puppy love](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8676901) but you don't have to read it to understand this.
> 
> Edited by [Calm_Surrender.](http://archiveofourown.org/users/CalmSurrender/pseuds/CalmSurrender)
> 
> Still looking for a beta reader, hmu here or at [my tumblr.](http://lordslacker.tumblr.com) Or just for screaming about Supercorp in general tbh.

Kara is sulking in her office.

  
Well. Not sulking. More like thinking. Brooding, even.

  
Brooding about how much of a jerk her boss could be and how he never appreciates her work and efforts and turns down all of her possible stories and how it feels like he only tolerates her because of her connection with Lena and—

  
"Ms. Danvers?" A sharp knock on her door cuts her off from her sulk... she means brooding. Yes, brooding.

  
"Coming!"

  
She opens the door to find someone—an intern, perhaps, since no one calls her that in CatCo except for newbies—on the other side of the door. "Hey, what is it? Does Snapper need me?"

  
"Oh no, Mr. Carr isn't even in the office right now, I saw him go out like half an hour ago. Um, there's a delivery for you."

  
She hands Kara a box of something that is still warm to touch and smells delicious, it makes her want to drool.

  
"It came around five minutes ago. Enjoy, Ms. Danvers!"

  
"Thanks, have a nice day!" Kara calls out to the retreating intern's back.

  
She closes the door and opens the box.

  
Donuts. A dozen donuts with various toppings, from Oreos to green tea to tiramisu to cheese—

  
Kara bites a jelly donut in half and moans when a rush of thick and warm strawberry-flavored jelly hits her tongue. She needs sugar after dealing with Snapper, and somehow Rao blesses her with just that.

  
(If there's one single good thing about Cat's departure, it's that people can actually get deliveries to the office now. And eat in the office.

  
Fine, make it two things.

  
Kara thinks she will gladly sacrifice all of it if she can see Cat snapping at people in her office again and to get her advice again.

  
James is a good boss, but it doesn't change the fact that he's _not_ Cat.)

  
She's in the middle of licking a chocolate and banana donut when she realizes she doesn't know where the donuts came from. She can practically hear Alex yelling at her for being sloppy and unaware of possible danger.

  
(Even though poison won't work on her, Alex is too much of a worrier sometimes.)

  
Then she sees a piece of paper between a mango donut and a blueberry and cheese one. She takes it carefully and opens it to find an elegant handwriting forming a simple note.

  
_Hope you'll have a great day._  
_Lena_

  
Warmth fills her entire body, and for a moment she has to look down to make sure she's not flying.

  
(She's floating a few inches off the ground.

  
This is starting to become her natural reaction whenever the young Luthor is being nice to her, which is all the time. Or even just thinking about her.

  
Lena's a pretty great friend.

  
And very pretty, in general.)

  
She giggles and reaches for her phone. She wants to call Lena, but she knows how busy the CEO is, so the very least she could do is to text her a thank you.

  
_Hey, Lena! Thanks for the donuts!!! It was a very good pick me up!!! <3_

  
Her phone buzzes with Lena's reply a few seconds later.

  
_I'm glad you like it. Pick me up? What's wrong?_

  
_Nothing, snapper just being a jerk again :( but i shouldn't complain to a ceo with wayyy heavier responsibilities than me haha_

  
_Kara, you're welcome to talk to me about anything anytime. Maybe I wouldn't answer right away, or even have answers for your problems, but rest assured I will be there for you._

  
Kara feels like her grin will split her face in two. Lena is so sweet and nice. She's lucky to be her friend.

  
_Back at you too! :) btw, aren't you busy?_

  
_Not really. I'm in the middle of a call with the head of Allsafe, but you're far more interesting than he could ever be._

  
_You're exaggerating! I'm just me, ole kara danvers haha_

  
_Don't sell yourself short, Kara. You're also selfless, caring, impossibly kind, and a ray of sunshine for people around you. I'm glad to be one of those people._

  
Kara blushes. She's not _that_ great. At least as Kara Danvers, anyway.

  
_Thanks, that was a high praise from someone like you :) and i'm lucky to have you in my life, lena. You're so brilliant, nice, and sweet <3_

  
_Someone like me? And well, I like you, Kara. I'm not nice to just everyone._

  
_I look up to you, you know. A woman who tries to break out of her family's shadow and make her own name in this world, and yet still so humble about it. Also, does that mean i'm special since you're so nice to me all the time? :P_

  
_Thank you. And you are, indeed, special to me, Kara Danvers._

  
She's speechless for a moment. Lena Luthor just told her that she's special.

  
With shaky hands, she replies to Lena.

  
_You're special to me too, lena luthor :)_

  
_I'm glad._

  
She exhales a big sigh and takes a huge bite off a chocolate and orange donut when her phone buzzes again.

  
_Kara, if you're not busy, would you like to have lunch with me at my office tomorrow at noon? How does Chinese sound?_

  
_Sure!!! Also chinese sounds great, i can eat potstickers for every meal tbh_

  
_I know :) See you tomorrow?_

  
_See you, lena!!!! Have a nice day <3_

  
_You too, Kara. Don't let Snapper ruin your day._

  
_Haha i already forgot about him thanks to you :D_

  
_Happy to help xo_

  
Kara puts her phone back on her desk and resists an urge to squeal.

Donuts and potstickers lunch with Lena tomorrow?

  
It's a good day in her book.


	2. potstickers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't already, go read Cloud_Lightning's [Jar of Happiness](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9134668) if you want to drown yourself in Supercorp fluff, mutual pining, and happy Luthor family feels. Besides I helped her in the process, so of course it's good B) *heh
> 
> Happy New Year and let's hope 2017 is gonna be either better or for the Old Gods to come and eat us all. I'm down for whichever.

Kara is looking at her watch every few seconds. Today she's going to eat lunch with Lena and she can't wait for it to be noon already. She hopes that the bad guys will give her at least an hour just to enjoy her food and Lena.

  
Conversations with Lena, she means, not Lena herself. Gosh. That sounds dirty.

  
Lena is a delightful person to talk to about everything that comes to her mind. She's a bit reserved, but Kara rambles enough for both of them anyway, so they complement each other.

  
When she looks at her watch for the thirtieth time this hour, it's already five minutes before noon, so she quickly makes her way to the emergency stairs and flies to L-Corp.

  
She arrives around two minutes later and she lands on an alley behind the building. She combs her disheveled hair from flying with her fingers and touches up her lipstick.

  
Kara manages to walk inside L-Corp without using her super speed, but she's fairly sure she's buzzing in excitement. She's going to eat her favorite food with her good friend! What's not to like?

  
The receptionist just nods at her as she makes her way in. She heads to the elevator, smiling all the while.

  
The sunlight that enters through the glass walls of the elevator warms her up and she thanks Rao from her heart for making her end up here and blessing her with amazing people that she would've never met otherwise.

  
The destruction of Krypton hurts, of course, and she doesn't think it will ever stop, but she knows she can always remember Krypton and make new memories at the same time. Both are precious to her, and she will never, ever replace them.

  
The elevator lets out a small ' _ding!_ ' when it reaches top floor. Jess, Lena's secretary, isn't at her desk right now, and Kara feels a little guilty for being happy about that fact. She has a feeling that Jess doesn't like her all that much.

  
Her sharp ears pick up Lena's voice behind the door. It seems like she's talking on her phone, judging from her irregular heartbeats and the subtle grinding of her teeth. Lena would never let herself be less than composed if she meets them face-to-face or at least on video call.

  
(Now she can't help but wonder if Lena ever does it when they text. What if she somehow annoys Lena but she's too nice to say anything?)

  
She waits for five minutes outside the door, but Lena's still talking to the other person on the phone. If anything, it grows even more heated.

  
She can hear the elevator move upwards and Jess humming something about... a bitch better have her money? Or something like that. Her music taste is frozen in early 2000s (or the best era ever, no matter what Alex says) so what does she know?

  
Torn between Jess catching her standing around like a creep and bearing her passive-aggressiveness or disturbing Lena, she quickly makes her choice.

  
"...and don't you ever forget, Price," she hisses, her back is facing Kara. Her stomach jolts pleasantly from Lena's cold tone, for some reason. "You need me more than I need you, so cut the bullshit."

  
Kara can see Lena's shoulders tense up and she wonders if this is a bad idea and maybe she should go back to wait for Lena outside, Jess' passive-aggressiveness aside.

  
"You think I don't know about your little deal with the Chinese Minister of Security?" She chuckles, and unlike Lena's laughters that she's heard before, it was cold and mirthless. Kara hopes Lena will never direct that to her, even if it's... interesting... to hear.

  
Lena turns around and her scowl vanishes when she sees Kara. She gives the CEO a shy wave and Lena's eyes softens so much it's hard to believe that this is the same woman that just made a not so veiled threat to the phone a moment before.

  
"You know what, Philip? As much as I enjoy lording things over your head, your empty bluster is starting to bore me. I have more important things to do than listening to your prattle. Good day."

  
Lena ends the call and throws her phone on her desk. She sighs and rubs her forehead. "Sorry you had to see all of that."

  
"I don't mind. I knocked, but you didn't hear; I didn't mean to barge in."

  
"You know you're always welcome here anytime, Kara." Ah, there it is, the gentle smile that Kara likes so much. It makes Lena softer and warmer and prettier, if it's even possible for someone who's already as pretty as she is.

  
"Thanks. Your secretary isn't here, so..."

  
"I sent her out to buy food for our lunch. For some reason, a lot of people don't want to deliver food to L-Corp. I wonder why." Her tone is dry and her voice is steady, but Kara could hear the anger simmering beneath it.

  
"That's—" She doesn't get it. Lena isn't her brother. She's a Luthor, true, but that doesn't make her evil. Kara hates prejudices as much as the next girl, but sometimes when she sees or hears prejudices towards Lena just because of her family name, like now, it sets her teeth on edge more than what she feels normally. "That's terrible. I'm sorry. If I knew that, I'd have bought it before I got here."

  
Lena shakes her head slightly and the small movement makes her (currently) wavy hair bounce on her shoulders in a way that Kara appreciates. "Don't be. It's not your fault. Besides, what kind of host I am if I have to ask my guest to buy food?"

  
Before Kara could reply, there's a knock on the door. "Ms. Luthor, it's Jess."

  
"Come in."

  
Jess comes in and the delicious smells of pork potstickers (her favorite!), fried rice, noodles, fried wontons, and eggrolls are assaulting her nose even before the boxes are open.

  
"Thank you, Jess. Put those on the table and take a longer lunch break."

  
"Yes, Ms. Luthor." Kara doesn't miss the way she nods respectfully at Lena and the glare she throws her way.

  
Geez, what is Jess' problem?

  
"Well, now that the food is here, let's eat, shall we?"

  
"Of course." Lena smiles at her when she nearly trips over her own feet to get to the small desk and couch, but any embarrassment she feels is gone when Lena offers a hand to steady her and all she can think of now is the warmth of Lena's hand on her waist. "Thanks."

  
"You're welcome." She misses the warmth already when they sit down, but when she feels Lena's knee against hers, it's more than enough to make up for that. "I ordered an extra serving of potstickers for you."

  
"Wow, Lena! You didn't have to!"

  
"I know, but I wanted to. I know how much you love them."

  
The fact that she remembers a small thing about a mere reporter like her, even served her favorite food at her fancy gala a few weeks back, is enough to make Kara speechless.

  
"I—" Lena's bright green eyes are focusing intensely on her own blue ones, and sometimes the green shade reminds her of Krypton's once lush forests in the holograms she watched back then. "Thank you. I mean it."

  
"If you want to thank me, you better eat it all, because I hate wasting food."

  
"I will."

  
Potstickers never tasted so good.


	3. pizza

She sneezes for what feels like the tenth time in the past hour.

  
Yesterday, not long after her lunch with Lena, an alien wreaked havoc near CatCo. She managed to subdue it, but she blew her powers out and now she's miserable and with a cold.

  
How do humans cope with this? Back in Krypton, they already eliminated common cold, and now that she's here, Earth's young sun reassures her that she will never get sick, unless she blows out her powers. Like now.

  
She's lying on her couch, eyes glued to the latest episode of _Once Upon a Time_. She doesn't know why she keeps on watching after all the bullshit that the writers pulled. Even Alex gave up on watching it with her after the weird season on the island. Maybe she's just a masochist who, after all this time, is still hoping that the Evil Queen and the Savior will be together in the end.

  
(Okay, she totally is, and Jaime Murray's presence helps her through this episode. She misses seeing that regal face on her TV after _Defiance_ was cancelled.)

  
She's so absorbed in the episode, in a way that people can't look away from a trainwreck, that she nearly misses the soft knock on the door. She lowers her glasses to use her X-ray vision and groans when she remembers that her power is out.

  
"Coming!" She yawns while opening the door and freezes when she sees Lena standing outside the door instead of Alex or Winn like she expected.

  
"Kara? Are you okay? I heard there was an alien attack near CatCo yesterday, and I couldn't reach you, so I just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

  
"O-oh! Yeah, I'm okay, Supergirl came in time and kicked its butt."

  
"I'm glad. Are you sure you're okay? You look..." she trails off. Kara curses her choice of attire; Alex's old Stanford t-shirt and baggy sweatpants. Her hair is in a loose bun and she hasn't showered since yesterday. She knows she looks like crap. "...messy," Lena finishes diplomatically.

  
"I have a little cold. No biggie." It's true. Even after a few hours under the sun bed yesterday, her powers decided to take a break and left Kara to her own devices. Alex eventually sent her home under the strict warning that if her powers haven't come back in 24 hours, she has to go back to DEO. For now, J'onn is covering her for Supergirl-related emergency and Snapper just grunted when she called him to inform him of her absence this morning. "Also, I broke my phone. It fell when I was running from the alien." Well, not really _from_ the alien; more like _to_ the alien, but she couldn't tell Lena that.

  
"I see. I didn't know you were sick, so I brought pizza." Kara's attention turns to two boxes of pizza on Lena's hand and her stomach growls. "I could buy soup instead?"

  
"Psh, no! Soup is just salty water, it's not a proper meal at all. Sick or not, I'd rather eat pizza than soup. Anyway, come in! Sorry it's messy." Since she didn't really expect any visitor except for Alex, she was content to let the mess lying around. Now that Lena is here, she wants to use her super speed to clean up. Stupid solar flare.

  
"You're sick, and I get lazy whenever I'm sick too, so I don't mind," she chuckles and puts the boxes on the table. Kara cringes when Lena brushes aside an empty package of honey and butter Lays. "Do you want me to get plates?"

  
"Nah, pizza is best eaten straight from the box, " Kara says while opening the larger box. "Ooh, pepperonis and sausages!" she cheers.

  
Lena merely smiles at her, white teeth gleaming below soft lights of her apartment, and now Kara definitely feels self-conscious about her hygiene. The smell from her armpits is definitely not her imagination. If her clogged nose can pick it up, Lena's probably been assaulted by it. "Hey, do you mind if I shower first? I won't take long, I promise!" She hasn't brushed her teeth either, and she doesn't want to gross Lena out with severe halitosis.

  
"Of course."

  
"You can watch other things if you want. I have Netflix and a lot of DVDs."

  
Lena nods and Kara goes to the bathroom to finally shower.

  
When she's back to the living room twenty minutes later with her own National City University t-shirt and blue shorts and feeling more (heh) human, Lena is nibbling on her vegetable pizza and watching a vaguely familiar show.

  
"Hey, what are you watching?" Kara asks.

Lena scoots over to make room for her and she sits down, very much aware of her bare skin against Lena's.

  
Thank God for skirts.

  
" _Humans_. I just started it yesterday, but I fell asleep in the middle of the first episode."

  
"I think I've heard Alex talk about it before." More like raving about Gemma Chan's beauty, but still. "She said it's pretty good."

  
"Yes, so I've heard. The theme is interesting, and I have to admit the other reason I'm interested is because the main character looks like this girl I dated back in college."

  
"Cool." She didn't know Lena likes girls. Maybe she should ask her to talk about it to Alex? As a fellow woman loving women and all that?

  
Seeing no more reaction from Kara, Lena sighs and continues the episode and Kara is content with watching the episode, eating the pizza, and feeling Lena's warmth besides her.

  
It goes pretty well, until she sneezes again.  
She sniffs pathetically and groans when she realizes the tissue box on the table is empty.

  
"Here."

  
She turns to see Lena offers a handful of tissues. "Thanks. Ugh, I hate the cold." She turns her head and blows her nose as politely as possible in Lena's presence with the tissue. "Sorry, you came in to check on me and I'm being a walking snot machine."

  
"It's not like you asked to be sick." Kara stiffens a bit when she feels Lena's hand on her shoulder, but eventually she leans into her touch. It's not often Lena touches her first, so sometimes it takes her by surprise, even now. "Do you want me to go buy some meds?"

  
"It's okay, I heal fast. Tomorrow, I'll be feeling much better." Hopefully. She hates being sick.

  
"You have to give me your metabolism and endurance, Kara," she sighs. "What wouldn't I do to be able to eat a large pepperoni pizza without consequences and heal from cold in one day."

  
"If I could, I would," she coughs. "Sorry, I'm gonna throw it away now."

  
Lena nods and Kara goes to the kitchen to throw the used tissue away and to look for another box in the drawer.

  
She goes back to sit beside Lena with a new tissue box on hand. She gives Kara a small smile and turns her attention to the TV.

  
"Hey, Lena?"

  
"Yes?"

  
"If you're not busy, do you want to come to movie night on Friday?" She wants Alex and her friends to meet Lena, and she wants Lena to meet everyone. She really hopes they all will get along.

  
Lena's lack of reaction and pensive face disappoints her, but she supposes it's understandable. "Um, well, I understand if you can't, I mean you're probably very busy and—"

  
"Oh, no, I'm just thinking about my schedule. I think I'm free after eight? Is that okay?"

  
Kara beams at her. "Of course!"

  
The corners of Lena's lips are twitching with a small smile, and Kara finds herself staring.

"Good."

  
They turn their attention back to the TV and Kara finds herself growing sleepy, both from her sickness and from the show. Maybe if she closes her eyes for a second, it will go away.

  
She must've dozed off for a second (or ten minutes, who knows, really) because when she opens her eyes she can feel Lena's fingers stroking her hair softly.

  
"Lena...?" she whispers.

  
"Shh, if you're tired, go to sleep. I'll be here."

  
Ignoring the sudden warmth that is blossoming in her chest, she takes a deep breath, inhaling Lena's sweet scent in process (as best as she can do with a clogged nose), and snuggling deeper into the other woman's shoulder.

  
She swears she can hear Lena saying something in a foreign language before darkness overtakes her.


	4. cupcakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently today is (possibly) Katie's birthday and if it's true I take back all of my complaints about being born in January because with Katie, it means the three loves of my life were all born in January lmao
> 
> Happy (possibly) birthday Katie McGrath, I hate you so much I can't stop thinking about your mysterious nerdy punk ass smh

"You _what_?!"

  
Kara cringes at Alex's sharp tone. "I said, I invited Lena tonight..."

  
"Why?!"

  
"Why not? C'mon, Alex, don't be like that!"

  
"Yeah, Danvers, you dragged me here and yet you won't let her friend come? What's up with you?" Detective Sawyer asks from her seat besides Alex.

  
"Listen to her, Alex!"

  
"I wish she would, this one is a handful."

  
"I bet."

  
"Shut it, you two! Winn, back me up here!"

  
"Whoa, don't drag me into this. I'm just here to look pretty."

  
"Why are you so adamant on not letting Lena come?" Kara pouts.

  
"Because she doesn't know—" she catches herself and frowns when she subtly glances at Detective Sawyer. "Ugh, never mind."

  
"Is it because she's a Luthor, Danvers?" she frowns. "Look, I don't like her family either, but if Kara likes her, maybe she's tolerable, at least."

  
"Not because of that! It's because—"

  
"Because your sister's Supergirl and she's a Luthor?"

  
Kara could hear Alex's and Winn's hearts stop when Detective Sawyer casually said that. So did hers.

  
"W-what are you talking about, Detective Sawyer? Of course I'm not Supergirl! I mean, have you seen her? Have you seen _me_?" Kara laughs nervously.

  
"Are you drunk or something, Sawyer?"

  
"Yeah, Detective, you're really, really wrong there—"

  
"Guys, do you not remember what my job is?" she cuts them off with a smirk. "I'm a detective. I _detect_ things for a living. You think glasses and a ponytail and pastel aesthetic are enough to fool me for long? Besides, you—" she turns to Alex. "—you treat Supergirl with too much familiarity. It doesn't scream romantic, but it's not platonic either. So I looked you up—" she turns back to Kara. "—and matched your face with Supergirl's. 100% match, by the way. Try to invest in contacts or something, if you don't want to wear a mask."

  
"I—"

  
"Don't worry, no one knows other than me. I think. I mean, I didn't tell anyone else, obviously, but who knows who looked you up like I did?"

  
Before anyone can say anything, the doorbell rings.

  
Kara lowers her glasses since it's obvious that everyone in this room knows who she is anyway. "It's Lena," she sighs.

  
"Great," Alex groans.

  
"I'll keep it on the down low, don't worry."

  
Kara walks to the door, tunes out their whispers and steels herself for the moment Lena will meet her friends. She takes a deep breath and open the door.

  
"Lena! Hey!" She knows her grin is a bit too bright to be real, but in all fairness, Detective Sawyer just dropped an atomic bomb on them. If she knows, who else knows about her secret identity? This is bad.

  
"Evening, Kara. I'm not late, am I?" Lena smiles and it makes Kara forget for a second about what just happened.

  
"Kara?"

  
"Huh? Oh, no, you're not late at all!" Kara flushes; apparently she zoned out when Lena smiled at her. Weird.

  
"Good, because I stopped by a bakery for this." Lena produces a box of something that smells delicious from behind her back and hands it to Kara.

  
She opens the box to see a dozen of perfectly shaped chocolate salted caramel cupcakes staring back at her. "Oh my gosh, this is the cupcakes from Ms. Grant's favorite bakery!"

  
For once, the thing that reminds her of Cat doesn't sting at all.

  
"Cat used to buy from there too?"

  
"Yeah, I remember I went to that bakery sometimes whenever she craved sweets and I had to buy cupcakes for her. She never gave me any, though," she sighs mournfully, both for the food and Cat.

  
"She has a good taste," Lena says. "Then again, she hired you."

  
Kara nearly drops the box with Lena's last comment. What is it with today and people surprising her? "Um. Thanks?"

  
"You're welcome."

  
Lena smiles gently at her, the edges of her eyes soften and Kara finds herself sighing and smiling back at her.

  
A distant footsteps around the corner snaps Kara out of her staring contest with Lena. She nearly slaps herself when she realizes that the other woman is still standing outside the door.

  
"Gosh, where are my manners? Come in!"

  
She ushers Lena in and locks the door behind them. They're walking towards the couch, where they hear Winn ranting about something to Maggie.

  
"—and it's about giant robots punching the hell out of giant monsters! What's not to like _holy hell it's Lena Luthor._ "

"Winn, breathe." Alex pats his shoulder. "Hello, Ms. Luthor."

  
"Agent Danvers." Lena nods at her.

  
"You've met Winn—"

  
"We helped Supergirl with your device under the table at your gala!" Winn squeaks. "I'm Winnslow Schott Jr., nice to meet you Ms. Luthor oh my God—"

  
"I remember. You have my gratitude, Mr. Schott." Lena smiles pleasantly, and Kara is sure that Winn is _swooning_.

  
"Um, just call me Winn, Ms. Luthor."

  
"Then please, call me Lena."

  
"Okay, Lena!" Kara is pretty sure if Alex isn't holding his shoulder, he will be jumping up and down. "I have a few questions for you—"

  
"Ask her later, Winn, the woman is still standing," Detective Sawyer cuts him off. "Hey. Detective Maggie Sawyer, NCPD." She offers a hand to Lena.

  
"Lena Luthor, L-Corp." She shakes the detective's hand, amusement dancing in her eyes.

  
Kara claps. "Okay! Now we all already know each other, anyone wants cupcakes?"

  
All hands shoots to the air, with Winn as being the most enthusiastic. "Okay, Alex, help me—"

  
"I'll help you, Little Danvers. C'mon."

Detective Sawyer stands up, ignoring Alex's raised eyebrows and Winn's gaping mouth at being left alone with _Lena freaking Luthor._

  
"Uh, okay, c'mon."

  
They're heading to the kitchen together with Kara holding the box of cupcakes. Even though she can still see them (and hear them), she hopes Alex wouldn't be too hostile to Lena and Winn wouldn't embarrass himself even more.

  
"Worried about Danvers and Luthor?"

  
"Huh? Yeah, a bit. Alex can be intense to someone she doesn't know and trust," Kara sighs. "I wish she would give her a chance, I mean Lena saved her life once!"

  
"Whoa, what? How so?"

  
Kara turns on the stove and puts on a kettle filled with tap water. Since her apartment doesn't have any walls that can protect them from curious eyes (okay, Lena's), she can't use her heat vision to make tea and coffee in an instant. "Um, you know Metallo, right?" At Detective Sawyer's nod, Kara continues. "Well, he nearly shot Alex and would have if it wasn't for Lena shooting him first. I—We owe her."

  
"Damn, I had no idea."

  
"Yeah, it took me by surprise too, but I'm glad she was there. If not, who knows?"

  
Detective Sawyer winces. "Yeah, I get it. I can't imagine if I never met Danvers." Her eyes turns cloudy, and for a moment Kara is touched that someone else cares this much about her amazing sister. Alex deserves it more than anyone.

  
"I'm glad you met Alex, Detective Sawyer."

  
"Please, Kara, call me Maggie. I have a feeling I'm going to be around for awhile," she smirks.

  
"Right, so you and Alex, huh?"

  
Maggie shrugs and a small smile graces her lips. "Your sister is pretty cool."

"That she is, Maggie, that she is."

  
The kettle whistles and she mentally counts everyone's preferred beverages. Alex likes her coffee black _(like her soul_ , Kara jokingly once said. Alex didn't refute her.) while Winn likes his tea with five teaspoons of sugar ( _he really needs to watch his sugar intakes_ , she thinks silently, only adding two teaspoons instead of five) and Maggie can make her own.

Which leaves her with Lena's drink.

  
"Shoot, I don't know whether Lena likes coffee or tea more!" she mutters.

  
Maggie looks up from making her own coffee (a drop of creamer and two teaspoons of sugar, she notes). "Go ask her and check on them. They'll be either killing each other or trying to take over the world by lunch tomorrow."

  
Kara laughs nervously. "I hope not."

  
She goes to approach them just to hear them whispering something in heated voices.

  
"—it is real!"

  
"So, you think we all have alternate... selves?" Lena asks skeptically. Kara can practically see her beautifully shaped eyebrows raising to her hairline, even though she's facing away from her.

  
"Like, maybe at some point our choices makes us different, you know? I could've been a Broadway singer, for example. Alex could've been a doctor. You—" he waves his hand. "You could've been an artist in a small Canadian town that is terrorized by a religious serial killer!"

  
"That's awfully specific and very disturbing, Winn."

  
"I'm just saying! Oh, hey, what's up?" Winn asks when he notices Kara standing awkwardly behind Lena, not knowing how to interrupt them.

  
"Um, I just want to ask, do you want tea or coffee, Lena?" Kara smiles sheepishly.

  
"Tea, no sugar, please." Lena smiles back and Kara lets out a small sigh and she can feel herself smiling back dopily. It's her reaction nowadays every time Lena smiles at her.

  
"Alright, I'll be back."

  
Kara retreats back to the kitchen to see Maggie looking at her in amusement.

  
"What?" Kara asks, oddly self-conscious.

  
"Nothing," Maggie says, but the mirth in her eyes grows stronger. Kara frowns.

  
"Seriously, what?"

  
"You have a good taste, Little Danvers."

  
"Um, thanks? About what?"

  
"Luthor."

  
"What about Lena?" Kara is definitely confused now.

  
"The way you act around her?"

  
"What? I don't get it. We're friends, how else should I act around her?"

  
"Oh, man, this is precious," Maggie chuckles. "You mean, you don't realize it?"

  
"Maggie, what the heck are you talking about?"

  
"Nothing, nothing. Don't hurt your pretty little head over it," she waves Kara's question away. "Let's go now, shall we?"

  
Kara is still confused, but maybe Maggie is just playing her around since Alex did say she's a bit of a troll, so Kara lets it slide.

  
After she prepares the cupcakes and the drinks, she brings the tray while Maggie brings the plates with cupcakes to the living room, where now the nerds (as Kara dubs them in her head now) are in a heated debate about—

  
"Why would you even bother playing a shooter game when you let your drones do all the work, Schott?!" Alex throws her hands to the air in exasperation.

  
"Because why would I make my hands dirty if something else can fight my battles for me?" Winn rolls his eyes.

  
"Spoken like a boring Engineer," Lena scoffs.

  
Winn gasps in offense. "Weren't you an Engineer as well?!"

  
"Just because I'm one in real life, doesn't mean I will be one in video games, Winn. No, I was an Adept."

  
"Adept? You?"

  
"Why, is it strange?"

  
"I guess since Alex was an Infiltrator and I was an Engineer, I kinda guessed you'd be an Engineer as well, since our classes were close to our real life jobs."

  
"I've always been interested in magic, Winn. Adept was the closest thing _Mass Effect_ had for a mage class, so that's why I chose it."

  
"Well, good for you, Ms. Luthor. At least you weren't a boring Soldier."

  
"Really, Danvers, you wanna go there?" Maggie interrupts.

  
"Wait, _you_ were a Soldier?!"

  
"Duh. Best fighter and I can carry my babies Widow _and_ Claymore without having to sacrifice anything."

  
"I can't believe it!"

  
"When I'm playing shooter games, I want to fight with my own strength, not with the fancy skills," Maggie shrugs and puts the plates on the table. "And just for insulting my class, your cupcake is mine."

  
"Hey!" Alex cries when Maggie takes one of the two cupcakes on Alex's plate. "That's mine!"

  
"Come and get it."

  
Alex is scowling, but she doesn't move from her spot, even though Kara can see that she bounces her legs and up and down; a sign that she's excited. She thinks Alex doesn't try to take it from Maggie because they're not alone.

  
So she just smiles and sits besides Lena while watching Alex growling at Maggie who devours the cupcake in two bites.

  
"Damn, this is good!" Maggie nods to Lena. "Good taste, Luthor," she smiles, but Kara notices the detective's glances between Lena and her.

  
She also notices the glazed look in Alex's eyes when Maggie licks the remains of frosting off her fingers.

  
Ew, Alex.

  
"Thank you, Detective Sawyer."

  
"You're welcome. Now, Little Danvers, you said something about movies?"

  
"Right! Well, we're gonna watch _Easy A_..."

  
"Wait, I thought we're gonna watch _Pacific Rim_? You said this week it's my turn to choose!"

  
"But Alex! I miss Emma Stone!"

  
"You said last week I could choose this week because you and Winn wanted to watch _Pitch Perfect_ yet again! Come on!"

  
"But..."

  
"Oh no, no, don't try to use the puppy eyes on me, this is my turn!"

  
"Let's just vote, I vote _Pacific Rim_ ," Winn interrupts.

  
"You know what I want," Alex huffs.

  
"I miss Emma Stone too, so _Easy A_ for me," Maggie says while leaning slightly towards Alex with an amused look on her face.

  
"Sawyer, you traitor! First you took my cupcake, now you took my sister's terrible choice in movie! If you want to see Emma Stone so bad, at least pick _Zombieland_!"

  
"Shush, you whiny baby. How about you, Luthor?"

  
"Me?" Lena blinks, like she doesn't expect to be asked to vote. "Um..."

  
"Lena, please, I want to watch giant robots punching giant monsters, please," Winn whines.

  
"Well..."

  
"C'mon, Ms. Lu—Lena, your vote is crucial here!" Alex adds. Kara can see Maggie rolling her eyes good-naturedly at her... girlfriend? Whatever their relationship is. She forgot to ask.

  
"I..."

  
Kara bites her lips. Lena's vote is going to determine what movie they will watch for the next 90 minutes, and as much as she loves Alex, her taste in movies always leaves Kara speechless.

  
Like that time they watched a gory Japanese B-movie together, something with gore in the title? Honestly, it should be enough clue for her to refused Alex's request, but it was a rare visit from her sister ever since she went to Stanford a few months ago, and Kara wanted to please Alex.

  
She had nightmares for a week afterwards.

  
So, even though she's pretty sure Alex's choice this week wouldn't scare her, she'd rather play it safe. For that, she needs Lena.

Well, Lena's vote, to be exact. Of course she also needs Lena; the woman is her friend after all, but...

  
Where was she? Oh right, she has to convince Lena.

  
"Lena."

  
When Lena turns to look at her, Kara inhales and unleashes what Alex dubs the most powerful superpower in her repertoire: the Puppy Eyes™.

  
"Oh, shit," Alex mutters. "Not fair!"

  
Kara knows she can be adorable sometimes, and that if she widens her big blue eyes and makes it seem like she's on the verge of tears, most people will give her what she wants.

  
She tested it against J'onn once when Alex dared her to ask for his green tea Pocky he was munching on.

  
J'onn has a notorious sweet tooth, and while he's a definite hardass, he's also nice and reasonable in almost every aspect, but he always guards his sweets stash with a mama bear-like quality. Kara swears he puts it in a box lined with lead somewhere so she can't see it.

  
Yet when Kara unleashed the Puppy Eyes™ on him, he crumbled like a dry leaf and gave her the entire package.

  
If it worked on J'onn, it should've work on Lena, right?

  
"Please, pick _Easy A_? For me?" For added measure, she bats her eyelashes at Lena and she doesn't need super hearing to hear how Lena's breath hitches in her throat.

  
Oh yeah, she gets her. The most powerful superpower, indeed.

  
"Aaaaand she dies," Winn grumbles.

  
"Lena? Say yes?"

  
"I..." She has to maintain eye contact with Lena or the effect will be broken, no matter how much she wants to look away now because Lena's pale green eyes remind her of Kryptonite when it's not glowing sickly and robbing her of her power. It's intense, beautiful, and weakening at the same time.

  
Does that mean Lena's eyes is a form of Kryptonite for her? What a strange thought.

  
"Okay," Lena nods, a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks. Kara can hear Alex's and Winn's groans and Maggie's laughter, but she ignores them in favor of looking at Lena.

  
Lena looks... dazed, for the lack of better word. Maybe she went overboard with it?

  
Well, at least now she doesn't have to watch Alex's movie. Her life is filled with enough punching already, thanks.

  
"Thanks, Lena! I owe you one!"

  
"Uh-huh," she responds, apparently still too dazed by the Puppy Eyes™.

  
Kara sticks her tongue out to Alex, who rolls her eyes with such force she's sure it will get stuck that way.

  
She opens her Netflix account and chooses _Easy A_ with a smile. When she leans back to the couch, she sees Lena's small smile directed to her from the corner of her eyes.

  
She wishes she could spend every day with her friends like this, even if her Superfriends aren't complete. James is away on CatCo business, Lucy is still who knows where for Army business, and Mon mumbled something about being tied up when she called him a few hours ago. Knowing him, it could be literal, so she didn't dare to ask for more details.

  
But Lena's presence more than makes it up for their absence, so honestly, it's great.

  
She has to invite Lena more often.


	5. cake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to wikia Kara's bday is September 22nd so now you know the timeline(ish)

Kara feels like floating. Which, okay, she kinda is, but come on, it's her birthday! She's entitled to feel happy!

  
Later this evening, she will have a small celebration in her apartment, and she invited everyone to come. The theme is bring your own food, but Kara is an expert on Chinese takeout (seriously, the entire staff of her go-to restaurant is on first name basis with her. She's pretty sure 30% of their income is from her, based on how often and how much she ordered from them.) so she's not worried that there won't be enough food.

  
Surprisingly, the first person who wished her happy birthday wasn't Alex, but Cat Grant. She emailed Kara right when the clock struck midnight, wished her a happy birthday, and gave her some cryptic advice regarding Lena.

  
Something like, _'I know you're close to baby Luthor, but be careful. Not because she's a Luthor and you're... you, but because she can hurt you like no one else can'_.

  
(She knows that Cat knows who she is, but they never approached the subject because they've been doing this dance for too long. There's an unspoken agreement between them that still holding up until this day.

  
Too many unspoken things, really.

  
But ever since Lena came to her life, she's glad it remains _unspoken_.)

  
How does Cat know she's close with Lena, anyway? It's not like they're some sort of power couple that graces every front page of gossip magazines, they're just friends! Very close friends.

  
She never really had a girl friend before (aside from Lucy, but it was hard to get really close to her because whenever they met the situations were never appropriate), so it's different from how she acts with Winn, James, or Mon. She can be as touchy-feely as possible, and no one will take it the wrong way.

  
Kara likes touching Lena. She's a very tactile person and she needs touch to ground her and to convey her affection. Alex lets her touch her, of course, but even sometimes she whines about having a warm brick wall curling on top of her every time they have sister's night.

  
Lena, though...

  
The first time she touched her in a casual way that wasn't a handshake (a hand to an arm, she remembers fondly), Lena honest to God _flinched_ and nearly dislocated her own arm in an attempt to get away from Kara's hand. Kara withdrew her hand and smiled in an attempt to show she didn't mean anything bad by it.

  
Lena just stared at her in wonder before touching her back in a small, tentative brush of their hands together.

  
Ever since then, every time she wanted to touch Lena, she always asked permission first. Most of the time, Lena allowed it, but sometimes she didn't.

  
She learned to treasure the rare times when Lena touched her first.

  
(Kara wonders how was Lena's childhood sometimes.

  
She wonders if Lena's parents gave her enough hugs, and whether Lex treated her nicely before he went mad.

  
She resolves to try to thaw the ice around Lena by her touch, little by little.)

  
Regardless, she's glad that Cat cares and is still looking out for her in her own way, even if she has a weird way of showing it.

Seriously, the way Cat said it, she made it sounds like they're together _together_. Which is ridiculous.

  
Right?

  
Familiar footsteps and heartbeat snaps her out of her musing. Without even waiting for the guest to knock, she throws the door open.

  
"Winn!"

  
"Of course you know I'm here before I even knock," he laughs and hands Kara a pot of his homemade spaghetti. "Happy birthday!"

  
"Thanks! Come on in!"

  
"Ooh, am I the first here?"

  
"Yeah, Alex and Maggie are on their way here, James has a conference, J'onn has a DEO thing, Clark has a deadline coming up today, and the last time I called Mon, I heard things I can't unhear," Kara shudders.

  
"How about Lena? You did invite her, right?"

  
"Of course!" Kara's cheeks tinges pink when she remembers her phone call with Lena yesterday.

  
_"Hey, Lena!"_

  
_"Good afternoon, Kara." Lena's voice sounds so pleasant in her ears, even if it's a bit distorted by the phone._

  
_"You're not busy right now, aren't you?"_

  
_"No, I just finished eating lunch and I have nothing that warrants my immediate attention until at least two PM, so it's actually kind of my downtime now."_

  
_"Oh! I-I'm not bothering you, am I?"_

  
_"Of course not." Kara tugs her cardigan, warmth filling her when she hears Lena's laughter. "I could do worse than talking to you, Kara."_

  
_"Oh yeah? Like what?"_

  
_"Let's see..." There's a shuffle in the background, and she can picture Lena leaning back on her chair, posture relaxed with her phone sandwiched between her head and her shoulder, and the warm afternoon sunlight shining upon her through the window. "Trying to convince an entire room full of old men who are stuck in their old and traditionalist ways about new technology? Holding back my temper when my R &D staff _still _don't get what they're supposed to do? Having to hear 'what's a Luthor doing in here' yet_ again _when I entered a restaurant for a working lunch?"_

  
_"Lena..."_

  
_"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rant. It's just that... today is a long day, and it's barely one in the afternoon. You're the only good thing that's happened to me today."_

  
_Kara knows she shouldn't feel happy that Lena has a bad day, but when she said that, she can't help but smile. It's very flattering when a powerful CEO of a huge company thinks that way about you._

  
_"I'm glad I called instead of texted, then."_

  
_"Me too, Kara. I miss your voice." Lena's voice drops down to a soft whisper, but her sharp ears can still pick it up as clear as the day. "I miss you."_

  
_"I miss you too," she says with a sigh. After the movie night two weeks ago, they were so buried in their work that they barely had time to even text each other. Kara finds herself missing the raven haired woman more and more each day._

  
_For a moment, neither of them are talking. The silence is comfortable, like it always is with Lena._

  
_Kara loathes silence; she had her fill of silence after being trapped in the Phantom Zone for 24 years. Sure, she was asleep, but it still bothers her. Small, dark enclosed space and silence still bother her until this day._

  
_She always puts on some music from her Spotify playlists whenever she's alone in her apartment, and she always leaves at least one light on whenever she goes to sleep._

  
_But with Lena (and Alex, by Rao, her sister is a blessing), silence is comfortable. It doesn't suffocate her or drowns her in its all-consuming wrath. They both can be quiet and Kara actually enjoys it instead of dreading it for once._

  
_Like now. They're just listening to each other breathing through the phone, and it doesn't feel weird or creepy like it could be with other people._

  
_Kara could hear Lena inhaling and exhaling steadily, the rhythmic 'thump-thump-thump' of her heart, and the low hum of her AC in the background._

  
_Briefly, she thinks about how she wants to fall asleep while listening to Lena's heartbeat every day because of how calming it is, but she dismisses the thought. It seems a bit too much to think like that about her friend._

  
_"Lena?" Kara hates to break the comfortable silence, but she does have a purpose with this phone call._

  
_"Hmm?"_

  
_"Well, um, tomorrow is my birthday, and I'm wondering if you can come to my apartment tomorrow at seven? There will be a small dinner party, and I hope you can come."_

  
_"Hold on a second, Kara." She hears a shuffle and suddenly she can barely hear anything through the phone. It seems like Lena covers the mic with her hand, but she strains her ears to listen anyway._

  
_"Jess, do I have anything on my schedule after four tomorrow?"_

  
_"A video call at six with Mr. Wayne, Ms. Luthor."_

  
_"Tell him I have to postpone it or have it moved before four. I have to go home early tomorrow."_

  
_"But Ms. Luthor..."_

  
_"Thank you, Jess." With that, the sound returns normally and Kara blinks in astonishment._

  
_"Kara? You're still there?"_

  
_"Yeah, I'm here!"_

  
_"Good. Okay, I'm free after four, so I can go to your party."_

  
_Lena just casually tossed aside her business with Bruce Wayne in favor of her._

  
_Why?_

  
_"Um..." She wants to say that Lena should prioritize her own business over her birthday party, but she can't say that without Lena asking how she knows about it in the first place. "Alright, I can't wait!" Oh well. Might as well enjoy it._

  
_"Me too." Lena's low chuckle is tickling her ears, and she finds herself sighing yet again._

  
_"I'll see you tomorrow, then?"_

  
_"You will. Goodbye, Kara."_

  
_"Bye, Lena."_

  
"Hello? Earth to Kara Danvers?"

  
Kara blinks when Winn waves his hand in front of his face. "What?"

  
"You're blushing and you zoned out on me for quite some time. Did you have a flashback or something?"

  
"Something like that."

  
"Weirdo. Anyway, here's a new phone for you. I recovered all of your data and games' progress. Don't break it again the next time the boss is too hard in _Tap Titans_ , you hear me?"

  
"Thanks, Winn!" She coos, pecking his cheek and admiring her new phone. It's pink with red and blue case (of course) and when she taps on it, it doesn't crack. "I owe you!"

  
"Hell yeah you owe me. I get to choose next movie night?"

  
Winn's taste in movies runs in the veins of bad sci-fi or obscure nerdy cult classic rather than gory or horror like Alex's, so why not?

"Deal."

  
"Alright!" He pumps his fist to the air. "I'm gonna make you watch _Ghost Shark_ and _there's nothing you can do about it_."

  
Why, why did she agree to let him pick the movie?

  
A knock on the door snaps Kara out of her regret, and a very familiar heartbeat greets her as she runs to open the door.

  
"Alex!"

  
"Oof! Hey, sis. Happy birthday," Alex grunts from the full force of a Kryptonian puppy hug, but she hugs Kara back anyway.

  
"Where's Maggie? Aren't you guys coming here together?"

  
"She's downstairs right now, but she'll catch up later," Alex says while following Kara inside. "Hey, Winn."

  
"Yo, where's the bae?"

  
"Did you just say bae in a completely unironically way," Alex says flatly while Kara snorts at that.

  
"... maybe."

  
"Idiot." Alex shakes her head. "She'll come soon."

  
"That's what she said," Winn mumbles, but Kara blushes because she can hear it clearly. Curse her hearing, sometimes.

  
"What was that?"

  
"Nothing. Where's your present?"

  
"And food! I'm hungry, Alex!"

  
"When are you not hungry?" Alex rolls her eyes. "Ten servings of potstickers and a DVD set of season one of _iZombie_. You better leave me some potstickers!"

  
"But it's my birthday!"

  
"You're such a garbage compactor, Kara."

  
"Winn! Rude!"

  
"At least don't eat it all in front of Lena. Fast metabolism can only cover your ass so far."

  
"Oh... right..." Kara pouts; she wants to eat her potstickers while mentally writing fics of Ravi/Liv together, damn it!

  
If only Lena is in the know, too...

  
"You did invite her, right?"

  
"Of course! She should be here any minute now."

  
Two pairs of footsteps and now familiar heartbeats reaches her ears. "There they are!"

  
She thinks she can also hear a third heartbeat, but she doesn't pay too much attention to it, too excited to see Maggie and Lena again. She can't open the door yet, though, or Lena will be asking questions.

  
"Little Danvers, open up!"

  
That's her signal. "Coming!"

  
She nearly trips when she runs to open the door, much to Alex's and Winn's amusement.

"Hey you guys _oh my God a puppy!_ " She squeals at the sight of Maggie with a puppy on a leash besides her.

  
"Cute, isn't he? Say hello to Kara, boy."

  
"Woof!"

  
Kara melts when the Rottweiler puppy yips at her. "Can I hold him?! What's his name?!"

  
"Sir Pawtrick Stewart, and sure. Now I know the love of dogs is in your blood," she chuckles.

  
"Huh?" Kara barely registers Maggie's words, too busy scooping up the dog in her arms.

"Right, come in! Hey, Lena! Didn't expect you to come with Maggie."

  
"Oh no, we met downstairs, actually," Lena smiles softly. She smiles back and for a moment they're just standing smiling at each other; Kara with a squirming puppy in her arms and Lena with a box on one hand and a bag on the other.

  
"Ahem."

  
Kara nearly jumps and Lena flinches when Maggie clears her throat from her position behind Kara. "You two lovebirds are gonna come in or what?"

  
"Right! C'mon, Lena!"

  
"Of course." She follows Kara and closes the door behind her.

  
"What took you so long _oh my God a puppy holding a puppy!_ "

  
"Wha—" Before she knows it, a flash of light is blinding her and when she can see again, Winn is giggling while Alex and Maggie are looking at something on his phone.

  
"What was that for?!"

  
"That one is going to my Instagram."

  
"Tag me too! That's my dog!"

  
"Sure, let me add you first..."

  
Kara rolls her eyes and turns to Lena who is smiling at their antics. "You want to pet him too, Lena?"

  
"I'd like to, but my hands are full here."

  
"Oh! Trade?"

  
"Okay."

  
She takes the bag from Lena's hand and gives the puppy to her.

  
Kara wishes she could take a picture of Lena beaming down at the grinning puppy in her arm without feeling like a creep, but it seems like she doesn't need to do that since her ears catch a small _click_ from Winn's direction. At least he didn't use flash this time.

  
Maybe she'll ask the pic from him later.

  
"So what's this?"

  
"Hmm?" Lena is still smiling down at the puppy, but she meets Kara's eyes and she wishes Lena would smile like that more often, puppy or no puppy. "A present for you."

  
"Oh gosh, Lena, you don't have to—"

  
"It's fine," she chuckles. "It's just something I saw on my way here and it reminded me of you, so I bought it on impulse."

  
"Oh, um, thanks."

  
"Open it."

  
"Okay, here comes..."

  
Kara opens the bag and pulls out a stuffed golden retriever puppy.

  
"Oh wow, this is..." Is this how Lena sees her? A puppy? She doesn't know whether to feel amused or offended.

  
"You're so nice and happy and bright and adorable, besides you're blonde, so it was an easy pick," Lena grins.

  
"Thanks." Nope, she's not swooning at all. Nope.

  
Aaaaand Winn is taking yet another pic. Stalker.

  
"So what's in the box?"

  
"Ah," Lena ducks her head and Kara nearly squeals at how cute the gesture is coming from her. "I... made it. I hope it tastes okay."

  
"Made it?"

  
"Just a little something for you." She hands over the box and Kara accepts it after putting the stuffed animal on the table. "I hope you'll like it. Happy birthday."

  
When she opens the box, the first thing she notices is the _Happy Birthday, Kara_ scrawled with—she sniffs subtly—cream cheese on top of the rainbow cake.

  
"You... you baked it yourself?"

  
Lena nods and Kara has to make sure she's not floating in an attempt to contain her happiness. "I didn't know you could bake."

  
"I like to cook and bake. It's a good stress reliever." Lena tilts her head and looks at Kara from below her long eyelashes and Kara is quite sure she's blushing. Lena is so pretty from this angle. "Maybe one of these days I'll cook you something."

  
"I-I'd like that." Lena's half-smile does things to her insides. Warm, gooey things.

  
She's probably hungry. Man, the cake looks so good.

  
"Kara, you're drooling."

  
"What?" Alex's voice snaps her out of the cake-induced haze and she shakes her head and put the box of cake on the table besides the stuffed animal. "I'm not!"

  
"Not for the cake, sure." She can hear Winn mutter under his breath.

  
What's that supposed to mean?

  
"Hey, Little Danvers, here's a little something from me." Maggie hands Kara a plastic bag full of—

  
"Super stack Pringles! Holy crap, there are a lot of them!"

  
"That's not all!" Maggie tosses her something and she catches it with one hand. "You're welcome and happy birthday."

  
"Oh my God, where did you get this?!"

  
"I have my ways," Maggie grins at Kara's happiness over her new NSYNC t-shirt.

  
"Alex, keep her around," Kara nods solemnly.

  
"You just like her because you both have terrible taste in music!"

  
"Hey! Rude!"

  
"You wanna fight, Danvers?"

  
"But yeah—" Alex nudges Maggie, ignoring the detective's scowl. "I'll keep her around, alright."

  
"Good, so we can follow you around with _Bye Bye Bye_ at the highest volume at your birthday."

  
"Ooh, great idea, Maggie!"

  
"Don't you dare!"

  
"Watch me, Danvers."

  
While her sister and her girlfriend (?) are mock-fighting, Kara pulls off her cardigan to wear her new t-shirt, leaving her only in a white tanktop.

  
She hears a sharp inhale of breath from her side and she turns to see Lena looking at her exposed arms with hooded eyes and _oh_.

  
She bites her lips again, just like that day when she came to CatCo to invite her, a rookie reporter, to her gala and—

  
Kara averts her eyes and quickly puts the t-shirt on. She doesn't want to think weird things about Lena. It feels inappropriate.

  
However, she couldn't deny that it feels _good_ to make Lena react like that to her.

  
"Ooh, shall we cut the cake?" Winn asks, snapping her from her weird thoughts about Lena.

  
"I mean, I know you want Lena's cake for your own—" Maggie and Winn are snickering while Alex hides a smile behind her hand. Lena's face is carefully neutral when Kara steals a glance towards her. "—but do share, sis."

  
"Uh..." Why are they laughing? Is there something funny? Of course she wants Lena's cake for her own, but it would be rude if she doesn't share. Besides, it would be suspicious if Lena sees her eating her entire cake without any difficulties whatsoever, right? "Obviously, Alex."

  
"No candles, Luthor?"

  
"I forgot to bring them on my way here."

  
"Psh, just use a spare candle, it's no big deal. Winn, could you get a candle from the kitchen drawer, please? Second drawer from the right."

  
"Gotcha!" He puts it on top of the cake and Maggie lights the candle with her lighter.

  
"Now close your eyes and make a wish, Kara," Lena says from her side, their elbows touching.

  
Kara smiles at her before closing her eyes and makes a prayer.

  
_Rao, I wish for moments like these, forever and ever. I want to be happy with my friends and family. I want Alex to be happy with Maggie, for Winn to be happy whether it's with someone or alone, for Lucy and Cat to come back, for James and J'onn to always be my reliable rocks, for Jeremiah to come back safely to us so Eliza and Alex could smile more often, for Mon-El to get his life together, for Clark and I to always be this Earth's protectors, and to always have Lena in my life._

  
Winn takes yet another picture when she blows out the candle and she nearly cuts the cake with her heat vision before she realizes at the last second that Lena is here, so she pushes her glasses back up and asks Maggie to get her a knife.

  
She gives the first piece of cake to Alex. "Thanks for being my sister, Al."

  
"Likewise, Kara. I'm glad you came to us that day."

  
She kisses Alex's cheek and cuts three more pieces for Winn ("Thanks for being my best friend."), Maggie ("Thanks for being there for Alex, I hope you'll be around for a long time.") and Lena.

  
When she gives the plate to Lena, their fingers brush and she nearly drops it to the ground. She swears Lena caressed her fingers when they were touching.

  
"Thanks for being my friend, Kara," Lena says quietly.

  
"Thanks for being my friend, Lena. I'm glad we met, even if at first it wasn't a good impression."

  
"You've always left a good impression on me, Kara Danvers," she smiles and the Kryptonian feels like she has to avert her eyes because Lena looks so intense right now and she leans closer and —

  
Lena blinks and stops her advance. She throws Kara another smile and busies herself looking for a fork.

  
What was that?!

 

* * *

 

After an impromptu movie night where they all agreed to let Kara watch _The Proposal_ for the sixth time ("It's my birthday! Let me do it!") and Lena fell asleep on Kara's shoulder with Pawtrick on her lap (while she enjoyed Lena's warmth, she didn't enjoy the looks from her friends), they all finally got home with the exception of Alex. Something about helping her clean, even though she can get it done in five seconds.

  
(Not that she minds; she loves hanging out with Alex, and she's glad her sister wants to spend more time with her. DEO and Maggie are keeping her busy, and she misses them as Alex and Kara, not Special Agent Danvers and Supergirl.)

  
Maggie shrugged and kissed Alex's cheek and made Kara promise she will take care of Pawtrick when she and Alex couldn't, and she went back together with Winn to drop him off as he was babbling excitedly about riding a motorcycle for the first time.

  
Lena lingered for a bit, and Kara was hesitant to see her off after such a good night, but she knew they both have work in the morning, so after Lena's driver arrived, she walked the CEO out and to her surprise, Lena hugged her first and Kara nearly melted from her warmth and scent. She waved dopily at her until her car disappeared into the night.

  
"Good birthday?" Alex asks softly, remembering all the times she saw Kara crying on her birthdays back then.

  
"Good birthday." Kara puts the cake leftover in the fridge. Gosh, Lena is a great baker. She had to keep an eye on Winn and Maggie all night because they tried to steal Lena's cake from her. As if.

  
Maybe she needs to take on Lena's offer to cook for her sooner than later.

  
"I'm glad."

  
"Me too. I mean, of course I want my parents and Aunt Astra to be here, but..." she sighs. "Now I can make new memories with my new family without forgetting my old family, and I think that's the most important thing."

  
"Oh, Kara..." Alex sweeps Kara in a hug. "I love you, you know that?"

  
"Of course I do. I love you too, Al."

  
They're hugging for awhile before Kara lets go first. "Just go sit, I'll get this done."

  
Using her burst of super speed, she cleans up the leftover food and takes two bottles of beer from her fridge in the span of ten seconds before Alex even finishes looking for a mindless TV program to watch.

  
"Here."

  
"Thanks." Alex takes the offered beer and puts her feet on the table. "So what do you want to watch?"

  
" _Humans_ ," she says without thinking and looking it up in her recent watch list.

  
"Huh? Since when do you watch it?"

  
"Um, remember when I blew out my powers?" Alex nods. "Lena came here and we watched it together and I don't know, it grew on me I guess. So I've been catching up here and there when I have time."

  
"So you watch it because of Lena, huh? Not because I fangirled over Gemma Chan to you?"

  
"Not really because of her!" Kara feels oddly defensive. "Although Gemma Chan looks amazing and she's great here. She also looks like Lena's ex in college."

  
"She likes girls?"

  
"Yeah! So, um, yay for women loving women solidarity?"

  
Alex snorts. "I respect Lena as an engineer and I don't mind her hanging around, also it's cool that she likes women, I guess, not that it matters much for me, but..."

  
"But?"

  
"She's... y'know..."

  
"A Luthor? Really, Alex, still with this again? You know darn well she's not her name! She saved you from Corben and she saved all of us with her trap along with Winn at her gala! You, Winn, and her get along so well but you're still thinking of her as a Luthor? Really, Alex?"

  
"Wow, Kara, chill." Alex raises her eyebrows at Kara's rant. "I mean that she still doesn't know your other identity despite hanging out with us and it's, like, kinda awkward when you can't let loose in front of her while everyone else knows who you are."

  
"Oh," Kara cringes. She thought Alex would lecture her for being so close to her cousin's arch-nemesis' little sister.

  
"So no, not because she's a Luthor, it's because she doesn't know who you are and I know you're itching to tell her."

  
"You know that?"

  
"Kara, it's obvious you want to tell her. Besides, I think she can be trusted."

  
"You... you really think that?" Alex's opinion is the most important thing for her. If she says no, she wouldn't tell Lena, even if she wants to.

  
Alex nods. "She already proved herself to us. To be honest, I won't be surprised if she already knows. I mean, Maggie guessed and it hit bullseye. Wouldn't surprise me none if Lex Luthor's little sister can make an inkling from her brother's notes."

  
"You're oddly calm about this," Kara remarks.

  
"I suppose I can trust her now that we met and hung out. Also, it's your secret to tell, Kara. Ultimately, even if I say no, it's not my decision to make." Alex sips her beer. "Secrets will always tear a relationship apart, you know."

  
"I know." She remembers the days where Alex avoided her and lied about working in DEO and about Hank and Astra.

  
Rao, she wouldn't want to have any more secrets in her inner circle.

  
"Are you going to tell her?"

  
"I... I don't know. I don't even know how to approach that subject without making it awkward. What should I say? 'So I'm Supergirl, the cousin of the man that imprisoned your brother, let's go get some lunch?' I have no idea, Al."

  
"I don't know either, but we'll cross the bridge when we get there. Just make sure she'll sign a bunch of NDAs over in DEO when you do tell her. Maybe I can convince J'onn to let her help," Alex mumbles the last part, but her ears perks up.

  
"You want Lena to help out DEO?"

  
"Kara, the woman is a genius. If her brain and money is combined with DEO's resources, think about how efficient and powerful we could be. She could be a civilian contractor, I don't know."

  
"Oh my gosh! That's a wonderful idea!"

  
"Well, only if she says yes and accepts your other half first. Being a CEO is super busy too, so let's not get ahead of ourselves."

  
"Alright! But I'm really excited!"

  
"I can tell," she chuckles. Kara is wriggling in her seat and throws herself on top of Alex in her excitement.

  
"Ow! You're heavy!" She grunts when her back hits the couch and winces when her beer sploshes around.

  
"Sorry!" She eases up a bit to let Alex breathe. "I'm picturing all of us in DEO and how awesome it will be. No more hiding from Lena, either," she sighs.

  
"You got it bad, sis."

  
"Huh?"

  
"You and Lena, hmm?"

  
"What about us?"

  
"Seriously?" She rolls her eyes. "Why haven't you told me that she's your girlfriend? I understand you want to tell her because this kind of secret is too important to hide or it'll come between you two. Hell, I was kind of glad Maggie already knew since I didn't have to go through actually telling her, I guess."

  
Kara stares blankly at Alex. She stopped listening when she said that Lena is her girlfriend.

  
Girlfriend.

  
_Girlfriend._

  
Yeah, right. Why would a smart, beautiful, successful, and powerful CEO like Lena want her? She could have any women she wants!

  
"Yo, Kara, are you listening?" Alex snaps her fingers in front of Kara's dazed face.

  
"I am! What?!"

  
"Do you think I won't approve or something? Because I'll be the last person to judge, you know."

  
"What?"

  
"Because you're both women? And I'm dating a woman for the first time and it's amazing and weird and awkward and wonderful so it would be hypocritical of me to judge?"

  
"So you're really dating Maggie?" Kara's brain is still in shock and she can barely grasp what Alex says. "You're girlfriends now?"

  
"We're dating, yes, but not girlfriends, no," she sighs. "We haven't even kissed yet," Alex mutters sadly.

  
"What? Why? You already brought her to see me and our friends, that's a girlfriend thing, right? Introducing them to friends and family?"

  
"Yeah, but we're not really official yet? I don't really know how it works with other women, you know. She said I'm too new and she's still getting over her ex so for now it's just a thing between us?"

  
"I feel like she's kinda leading you on..."

  
"No!" Alex attempts to sit but Kara, the warm brick wall she is, won't even budge, so she lies back down again with a sigh. "She doesn't lead me on! I know we like each other, and it's just a matter of time. The ball is in her court and all that."

  
"Well, I like Maggie and she's cooler than you, but if she leads you on, I can throw her to the moon or melt her face, you know that, right?"

  
"And I can make Lena disappear, famous CEO or not. Also I'm totally cooler than her!"

  
"Well she doesn't mock me over my music taste for one and you don't need to do that because _Lena is not my girlfriend!_ "

  
"Suuuuure, keep telling yourself that. You're more touchy-feely than Maggie and I."

  
"That's because watching you two is like watching main characters from a buddy cop movie, what's with the 'calling each other by last name' thing and being tough badasses."

  
"You really think so?" Alex beams and Kara rolls her eyes. Of course Alex would like being compared to that.

  
"Yeah, it's cute."

  
"You and Lena are cute too. Whenever I'm watching you guys, it feels like reading one of Winn's mangas sometimes. You're blushing and flustered while she's suave and smooth. Not to mention you literally slept with her like, what, twice already?"

  
"What? No!"

  
"Uh, I came here when you were sick from blowing out your power and I saw you conked out on her shoulder and you were cuddling with her with her also sleeping. I thought I was walking in on your date, so I left. Then earlier she slept with her head on your shoulder. All of your interactions are so girlfriend-y," Alex sighs. "To think I have to find out from Maggie..."

  
"Wait, what? Maggie?"

  
"Well, she confirmed my hunch ever since she saw you two act around each other at movie night. Since she knows about those things better than me, I believe her."

"But..."

  
"Whenever you two are interacting, it feels like you don't realize that there are people around you to see you guys being like that. She only has eyes for you and you always give her heart eyes in return. You're always talking about her in almost every opportunity, even if the topic doesn't relate to her. You two are gravitating around each other. It's kinda disgusting how cute it is."

  
"I..."

  
"You sure you two aren't together?"

  
"Yeah! If we were, you'd be the first person to know! We're not together like that, Al!"

  
"But you do know that you like each other, right?"

  
"What?" Kara gapes. Today is a flurry of one shocking thing after another, it seems.

  
"I don't know her all that well, but I know you, Kar. It's like seeing you crushing on James all over again, but worse."

  
"Wh—I'm not crushing on Lena!" She yelps.

  
"Tell me, what do you think about her? What do you feel about her?"

  
"She's absolutely amazing and smart and gorgeous and she smells good and she can cook and bake, how awesome is that, and she's strong and determined and so good and warm and I can't think clearly whenever I'm around her because her eyes might be a literal Kryptonite and it's weird if we don't talk to each other for a few days and I love it whenever she reacts to me because it means it's not only me that can be flustered and she always makes me feel like I'm floating and gooey around her and _oh my God I like Lena Luthor!_ "

  
"Wow, and here I thought I'm the gay sister."

  
Kara ignores her, too caught up in her realization. "Alex, Alex! She baked me the cake and she threw away a business call with Bruce Wayne over me and she's so patient and gentle and she brings me food like all the time oh gosh do you think Lena likes me?!"

  
"I broke her," Alex groans.

  
"What should I do?!"

  
"Breathe and get off me for one. You're really heavy."

  
Kara gets off of her sister and sits beside her. Alex groans, sits up, and takes a deep breath once her breathing isn't restricted by a nervous Kryptonian puppy and rolls her shoulders. "Right. Calm down and think about it clearly."

  
Kara closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down. When she opens her eyes again, Alex is looking at her in amusement and she feels herself blushing at her freak out earlier.

  
"Okay, so you both like each other. That alone is a major step on the right direction, so you don't have to worry whether she likes you or not. I mean, the woman blew off Bruce Wayne to bake you a rainbow cake; if that's not love, I don't know what is."

  
"Rainbow... oh!"

  
"That was a bigger sign than the Bat-Signal to your face."

  
"I thought it was just a coincidence..."

  
"Who knows? But the fact that she chose to bake you cake over business with Batman is more important than the cake itself."

  
"True."

  
"So what are you gonna do?"

  
"Well, talk to her, obviously, but I don't know how to approach it! What if we're mistaken and she just acts that way because I'm her only friend?!"

  
"Even if we're wrong and I'm 99 percent sure we're not, if you two are really good friends, it'll just be awkward for awhile and then you two can move on and laugh about it. Besides, it will be her loss if she turns you down. You're a catch, sis."

  
"Thanks, Al, and so do you. I hope Maggie can handle you."

  
"She can handle me all she wants."

  
"Ew! TMI!"

  
Alex snorts. "Go text her and set up a lunch date or something."

  
"Alright."

  
She takes her phone from the table and starts to compose a message.

  
_Hey! Just want to say thanks for coming to my party! The cake was awesome and the puppy is so cute :DDD_

  
_Glad you like them :) And thanks for inviting me too, it was fun. Your friends are interesting._

  
_I know right?! And hey, I know we just saw each other like an hour ago, but do you want to have lunch together tomorrow?_

  
_Miss me already?_

  
"Stop blushing and text her back already!"

  
"Okay, geez!"

  
_Maybe :P so, lunch tomorrow, yay or nay?_

  
_Sure thing, Kara. I can clear my schedule around one, I think._

  
_Oh no, I'm not bothering you, am I? If it isn't a good time, we can reschedule!_

  
_You could never bother me, Kara Danvers. Lunch at one at my office tomorrow?_

  
_I'll bring the food this time. It's a date! ;D_

  
_Good :) Well, I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep now. Night, Kara._

  
_Night, Lena! Sweet dreams!!!_

  
_You too xo_

  
"That's so sappy I might get cavities."

  
"Shut it, Alex! Oh man, I'm so nervous!"

  
"Chill. It will be fine, just be yourself."

  
"Alright, I'll try."

  
They're drinking their beer quietly and lost in their own minds before Kara breaks the silence.

  
"Alex?"

  
"What?"

  
"I didn't even know I liked girls!"

  
"Oh boy, here we go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter spiralled out of control lmao it could be its own fic. Anyway hmu at [my tumblr](http://lordslacker.tumblr.com) eyyy


	6. sandwich

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She told me to proclaim my love to her, so here.
> 
> I love [CalmSurrender](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalmSurrender), thanks for the editing and encouragement and suggestions. I'm surprised you didn't shed tears of blood after reading all of my grammatical mess.

Kara curses the 'villain of the week' internally for making her late to her lunch date with Lena. If you can consider five hours past the time late.

  
God, Lena probably thought she cancelled on their lunch without saying anything. Her phone is broken yet again thanks to that jerk alien while they were grappling (at least now she had a legit reason to ask for another replacement phone from Winn instead of swallowing her pride to admit she cracked it in anger because she couldn't defeat a boss in her game), so she couldn't even tell Lena that she would be late or if maybe they should reschedule or something.

  
Why couldn't the alien pick another time to start a rampage? A time where she didn't have to talk to Lena about their relationship and her newfound feelings? Is that too much to ask? Ugh.

  
She curses everything, from the alien, Alex's overprotectiveness that made her stay in the sun bed for two hours despite not getting hit even once, her broken phone, the line at the restaurant that moves so slowly, her grumbling stomach since she skipped lunch and just had some snacks when Alex forced her to rest and three beef and cheese croissants were _not_ enough to fill her stomach, thank you. Basically, she curses everything that comes to her mind.

  
Except Lena, of course. She feels so bad for not telling the woman about the impromptu change of plans, but she figures she can make it up by buying her dinner. Kind of. It's barely six, after all. Who eats dinner at six PM?

  
Finally, it's her turn and she buys several roast beef sandwiches for herself and a grilled chicken sandwich for Lena and a big portion of fries with parmesan cheese for them to share.

  
A thought crosses her mind and before the cashier starts to count her purchases, she interrupts him. "Excuse me, can I get a BLT sandwich too?"

  
"Alright, lady."

 

* * *

 

Kara bites her lips and she feels like a cement mixer is loose in her stomach. That's how nervous she is, standing in front of L-Corp's building while clutching the take-out bags.

  
She inhales deeply and nods to herself. A 'good evening, Ms. Danvers' greets her from the security and the receptionist, and while she normally would stop and chat with them, she's too nervous to even try. She nods at them and half-runs to the elevator.

  
She takes note of her appearance in the elevator's glass walls. All for all, she doesn't look too bad for someone who just pounded a three story high alien to the ground a few hours ago.

  
The elevator arrives at Lena's office floor, and Kara cringes when she sees Jess glaring at her from her desk.

  
"Um, hi Jess, is Lena in?" She asks sheepishly while approaching the ever stalwart secretary.

  
"You're terribly late, Ms. Danvers. I cleared up her schedule hours ago," she retorts sharply, ignoring Kara's question. Looks like Jess is going all out aggressive today.

  
"I'm sorry... work came up so suddenly... you know how it is, right?"

  
"Yes, but at least I have some decency to inform them if I have to cancel our plans."

  
"I..."

  
"She was waiting for you for two hours, Ms. Danvers. She even cancelled another meeting for you, but you never showed up, never notified her..." Kara swears Jess has her own heat vision because the force of her glare is hot enough to make the superhero step back slightly. "Do you think she's not a busy woman? Do you think you can play with her like that? I have to reorganize everything to fit you in her busy schedule and then my boss was stood up by... by _you_!"

  
"I'm sorry, Jess, it was an emergency..."

  
"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Le—Ms. Luthor!"

  
"I will, I swear. I should've told her that I couldn't come this afternoon."

  
"You have a phone, Ms. Danvers. Use it."

  
"I know, it's just that my phone broke, and—"

  
"Can't you borrow someone else's phone and text her, 'Hey, sorry but I think I can't make it, maybe next time?' "

  
Kara gulps. Jess is right. She should've borrowed Alex's or Winn's phone or even used one of the burner phones available in DEO to text Lena. It's not like she didn't memorize the woman's number right after she got it.

  
"You're right, I didn't even think of that. I'm sorry." Kara bites her lips. "Can I... can I see her now? To apologize and make it up to her?"

  
Jess stares at her for a while, and Kara tries not to squirm under her scrutiny. It feels like she's facing a dragon before she can reach the princess.

  
She can only hope that the dragon wouldn't kill her first and that the princess is not in another castle.

  
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Jess sighs and rubs her forehead. "She's inside."

  
"Thanks, Jess—"

  
"Listen, Ms. Danvers. I will only say this once." Jess raises her hand to shut Kara up. "I've been working for Ms. Luthor for a very long time, even before all the shitstorm with her brother began. She's an amazing boss, you know? Tough but fair. She appreciates me and never overworks me. Hell, if anyone is overworked in this company, it's her. She's brilliant and I'm behind her 100% to reform this company and to get out under her family's shadow."

  
"That's amazing—"

  
"However." Her glare shuts Kara up. "It doesn't leave her time for friends." Now her glare softens, if only a fraction. "You're her first friend that I see ever since I started working for her, and that was a long time ago. You're the only one who is sincere enough to get close to her and doesn't demand money or favors or connections or what have you. For some reason, she likes spending time with you, and I know you're not out to take advantage of her, so that's why I try my best to always cater to her demands about her schedule whenever you drop in unannounced or if she wants to see you."

  
"I appreciate that, truly—"

  
"She likes you _so_ much and I just..." Jess inhales deeply. "I just want to see her happy. I know you can do it, so please... please don't hurt her. She deserves better than being this city's scapegoat every time something goes wrong. She deserves the best."

  
Kara swallows. "She does. I swear I will do everything in my power to make her happy."

  
"As her friend?"

  
"Yes?" She can feel herself blushing when Jess squints at her. "Maybe more?" she squeaks.

  
"Well, that's between you and Ms. Luthor. Go on in." If it wasn't for her super vision, she wouldn't see the way Jess just hid a small smile.

  
"Right, thank you." She starts to approach Lena's office door when she stops in her tracks. "I almost forgot! It's for you!" She hands one of the takeout bags to the bemused secretary.

  
"What is this?"

  
"A BLT sandwich. It's just that... I used to be an assistant, and I know how hard it is to cater to all of their whims sometimes. Not that Lena is a whimsical boss, I'm sure! I mean, you know, about changing her schedule all of the sudden because of, well, me. So, it's a token of thanks, I guess? I know it's not enough for all you did but—"

  
"Thank you, Ms. Danvers. I appreciate it." Jess cuts off Kara's rambling with a smile.

  
"Oh! That's great!" Kara laughs nervously.

  
"Yes, now go already."

  
"Aye, aye, ma'am!"

  
Jess snorts when Kara gives her two finger guns salute and nearly crashes into Lena's door.

  
She opens the door and her breath stutters when she sees Lena working on her desk, face scrunching in deep concentration and she's wearing her glasses. It takes her breath away and the huge black rimmed glasses around Lena's eyes make her look adorable and younger and freer, somehow.

  
"Ahem."

  
Lena looks up and beams when she sees Kara. "Kara! You're here!" She stands up and approaches her. To her surprise, Lena hugs her. "You're okay!"

  
"Oh, hey." She hugs Lena back and inhales Lena's scent and just loses herself in the other woman's warm embrace.

  
"I was so worried," Lena murmurs into her shoulder. Kara just realized that Lena is barefoot and it makes the human stand shorter than her.

  
"You were?" She whispers back, not wanting to speak too loud in fear of making Lena end their hug.

  
"Yes." She buries herself further into Kara's shoulder. Kara is pretty sure Lena could feel her thundering heartbeats through it. "You didn't call or text me and you didn't reply to any of my attempts to contact you. I know that alien earlier didn't appear near CatCo, but I couldn't help but worry. What if you were covering a story near the place and accidentally became collateral damage?" She tightens her grip on Kara's blouse.

  
Rao, she didn't even think of that. "I'm sorry, my phone broke—"

  
"Again?" Lena lifts her head from Kara's shoulder to look at her. "How come you break your phone so often?"

  
_Aliens or super strength or both_ , Kara thinks. "I'm clumsy, I tend to drop things."

  
"Hmm." Kara can see Lena's skepticism shining in her beautiful eyes. "Maybe I should make you a phone, Kara. Something that is strong enough to withstand any impacts."

  
"You don't have to—"

  
"I insist. Maybe if you have a better phone, one of these days you wouldn't give me a heart attack for not replying while aliens are wreaking havoc in the city."

  
"I don't want to inconvenience you."

  
"Nonsense. Besides, I could also market them... hmm." Lena's eyes have that glazed look she gets whenever she's thinking about a new project.

  
"If that's what you want."

  
"It is what I want," Lena smiles softly at her and Kara resists an urge to pull her closer. "I'm glad you came."

  
"Me too. Um, I brought something, since I didn't come to our lunch date." Kara blushes at the word 'date'. "Sorry I couldn't make it, by the way. Work came up so suddenly... you know how it is."

  
"I do, and it's fine, now you're here." Lena purses her lips and Kara can't help but to stare at her friend's lips. Her _very_ lovely friend's lips. "Next time, try to let me know if you can't come, okay?"

  
"I will."

  
"Alright." They're looking at each other for a moment longer before Lena rubs her back and pulls out of the hug first. Kara hesitantly lets her.

  
"So what are those?"

  
"Oh, just some sandwiches, also a portion of parmesan fries for us to share."

  
"I didn't know you were going to invite my entire floor, Kara," Lena smiles and nods at the bulging sandwiches in the bags.

  
"Well, it's just for me, I didn't eat lunch because of work."

  
"I suppose we could make this an early dinner since it's just—" Lena squints to check her wristwatch. "—6.40 PM. I'm starving anyway."

  
"Didn't you eat lunch before?"

  
Lena shakes her head and smiles sadly. "No. When I figured you wouldn't come, I became too absorbed with work."

  
Kara winces when she remembers what Jess said about Lena waiting for two hours for her. "You really need to eat more often, Lena! Skipping meals isn't good for your body!"

  
"I know, thanks for caring. Let's eat now, shall we?" She gestures to the couch and the small coffee table.

  
Kara sits on the couch while Lena heads to a small fridge in the corner of the office.

"Water okay with you?"

  
"S-sure." Nope, she totally didn't check out Lena's behind when she bent over to take the bottled water. No siree, nope. Kara Danvers is not a pervert who checks out other people's butts without their consent, darn it!

  
Lena turns with two bottles of water in her hand and sits beside her. "Sorry that I look so... casual. I didn't expect anyone to see me today."

  
"Oh no, it's okay! Feel free to be casual around me! It's just me, anyway."

  
"Just you?"

  
"You know," Kara shrugs while taking one of her roast beef sandwiches and giving Lena her grilled chicken sandwich. "Your friend, cub reporter Kara Danvers. You don't need to try to impress me by dressing to the nines." She averts her eyes from Lena's intense ones. "You've already impressed me by being you."

  
"Oh, Kara..." Lena breathes out. Kara looks at Lena and she's nearly blown away by the fondness and affection in Lena's gaze. How come she didn't realize this before? It's not like Lena was subtle about it. The flirting, the touching, the way she treats Kara softer than anyone else...

  
(Deep down, she thinks she did realize it, but she still can't wrap her head around the possibility that someone like Lena would like her.

  
It's better to write them off as 'friends being friendly' or Alex's favorite, 'gals being pals' to avoid unrequited feelings from her side.)

  
"Yes?

  
"I'm glad that you think of me so highly. Not a lot of people would see me beyond the Luthor name, and to hear that you're impressed by me just being me? It's honestly quite shocking."

  
"Why would it be shocking?" Kara doesn't get it. Lena is amazing by her own merit, why wouldn't she be impressed?

  
"Because it's just me, Kara. If it weren't for the Luthors, I'd still be stuck in a small city in Ireland, living from house to house with relatives who don't wish to be saddled with an orphan who lost her parents in a car bomb during The Troubles. I have degrees and resources thanks to the Luthors." Lena averts her eyes from Kara's patient gaze. "Without them, I'd be nothing. I'd still be Helena Foster, an Irish orphan with nothing to her name instead of Lena Luthor, the youngest female CEO under the age of 35 in the country with multiple degrees and invention patents under her belt." Lena shakes her head and smiles grimly.

  
"Lena, how can you say that? Sure, the Luthors might have given you all the resources you need, but your intelligence, your integrity, your _goodness_? That's all you and not them. You're not defined by them, Lena. Besides, didn't you say you want to get out under the Luthor's shadow? Where's that woman?"

  
"Perhaps that woman never existed at all," Lena chuckles tiredly.

  
Without thinking, Kara grabs Lena's free hand. The other woman flinches, but she doesn't try to pull away and just stares at Kara in bewilderment.

  
Kara gulps. "Lena, why are you putting yourself down like this? I know you're different than your brother, and I'm not talking about you being adopted and him being a true-blooded Luthor. I mean about your heart, Lena. Lex let his madness consume him in his obsession with C—Superman," she swallows thickly, in her nervousness she nearly blurted out Clark's name to Lena. "But you? You don't let his xenophobia influence you, nor his madness. You shouldn't let yourself be defined by him. Be Lena Luthor, a genius who uses her intelligence and resources for good instead of being Lena Luthor, Lex Luthor's little sister. You're your own person, Lena, and a wonderful one."

  
"Kara..."

  
"I mean, I get how family influence us." Kara is staring at their joined hands and decides to be a little bolder by intertwining their fingers together. To her surprise, Lena lets her and even squeezes her hand. "I was adopted too, remember? For a long time, I tried to be what my foster parents and Alex wanted me to be." _To be a human_ , she didn't say. "I mean, the Danvers are a family of scientists, so naturally they wanted me to be one too. Jeremiah and Eliza gave me a lot of books about quantum physics and chemistry, and I remember Alex dragged me to her science fairs and I fell asleep because of how boring it was for me." She didn't add _because I learned Earth's high school science when I was five._ "So I finally tried to find my own thing and here I am," she shrugs. "With you."

  
"With me?" Kara can hear Lena's heart beating faster with her last comment.

  
"Um, you know, you gave me the push to become a reporter ever since we met for the first time, about the Venture spaceship? Anyway, you inadvertently made me a reporter, and with me as a reporter, I have a lot of assignments related to you and we became closer because of how often we met and I can see Lena Luthor the nerdy geek instead of Lena Luthor the, uh, icy CEO. No offense," Kara quickly adds when she sees Lena open her mouth. "I mean it's cool and all to see you crushing people under your heels with a word, but I have to admit it's intimidating, even if it's ho—cool! I mean cool!" She laughs nervously; she nearly blurted out that she finds Lena's "I'm a boss bitch" side hot, by Rao's light. That's a bit too much.

  
"You think it's cool?" Lena purrs. "Or hot?"

  
"Uh..." She can't form a coherent sentence when Lena is looking at her like this. Like... like she wants to _devour_ Kara whole.

  
No wonder Maggie thought they were dating when she and Lena first met.

  
"Well, which one is it, Kara?" Lena smirks, and Kara's eyes are drawn to Lena's lips; her lipstick is still perfectly applied despite working all day.

  
She wonders how that shade will look on her own lips after—

  
_No! Bad thought! Not appropriate! Not now!_

  
"Uh," she squeaks. "Both?"

  
Lena bites her lips and Kara is pretty sure her eyes are bulging out of its sockets right now. "Both, hm?"

  
"Y-yes?"

  
She leans closer and her perfume fills Kara's nose. "Good," she whispers, lifting their joined hands and planting a soft kiss on Kara's middle knuckle.

  
Kara feels dizzy from both the kiss and the proximity between them. All of her doubts about Lena liking her are gone, but what about her secret identity as Supergirl? It wouldn't be fair to both of them if Kara keeps a secret as big as that to herself, and what if Lena is angry that Kara essentially lied to her by omission for the months they knew each other? What if she doesn't like Supergirl? What if—

  
"Hello? Earth to Kara?" Lena's gentle voice brings her back from her panicked thoughts, and she looks up to see Lena leaning her head sideways on the couch. "You zoned out on me."

  
"Y-yeah, I tend to do that."

  
"It's cute." Kara can feel Lena's thumb stroking her own and she's glad for keeping her super sense guard up because she'd rather not be... excited... from the way Lena's slightly callused thumb feels on hers. Rao, she's sure it's just her imagination, but for a moment she's pretty sure she can feel the small ridges on Lena's thumb and even Lena's _fingerprint_.

  
"It is?"

  
"Mm-hm. The way you get lost in your head, thinking about things and words... it's endearing. That's one of the many reasons why I like you, Kara."

  
"Y-you like me?" Kara can feel her breath hitch at Lena's comment. _In what way?_ she wants to ask, but she decides it's too forward.

  
"Of course I do. You're my only friend in National City, why wouldn't I like you? Besides, you're Kara Danvers," Lena shrugs, as if it explains everything.

  
"I am Kara Danvers, yeah," Kara nods jerkily and she wants to kick herself for being so dorky because _duh_. "What about it?"

  
"Sometimes, I think you don't realize the impact you've made to people around you."

  
"Huh? What impact? I'm just me, you know?"

  
"Now who's putting herself down?" Lena raises an eyebrow. "Don't sell yourself short either. I've never met someone like you before. You're so full of joy and you bring such happiness to everyone around yourself. I can tell because I saw how your friends react to you... besides, I'm one of those people who you've made happy. You inspire many people to be the best they can be, to be good and positive, and what more does the world need right now?" She squeezes their hands. "We all can get negativity just by looking outside our windows, or hell, just by thinking long and deep enough, but positivity like yours is rare, Kara. You're like a ray of sunshine; warm, nurturing, and enlightening. I'm glad I met you."

  
"Lena, I—"

  
"Let me finish. You inspire me, Kara. You make me want to be better." Lena blinks slowly and Kara is reminded of how a cat blinks like that at you when they like you. "All of your words earlier? I'm not sure what you said is true, but you make me want to believe it. To be known as Lena Luthor, instead of merely Lex Luthor's little sister. Maybe I could eventually do it... with your help."

  
"M-my help?"

  
"Yes, your help. Will you help me achieve that? To be a better person and to get out under my family's shadow?"

  
"Of course, Lena! Even if I don't know how much help I will be, I swear I will do whatever I can!"

  
"Thank you, Kara."

  
Lena sits up straighter and leans closer to Kara and she's holding her breath in anticipation and—

  
"Ms. Luthor?"

  
They both jump in their seats when Jess' voice breaks the moment between them. Kara internally curses the secretary's terrible timing and tries to pull her hand, but to her surprise Lena grips her hand tighter.

  
"What is it, Jess?" Lena's voice is calm and measured, like she didn't just try to _kiss_ Kara moments ago. She envies Lena's cool façade sometimes, since she's sure her entire face is still red now.

  
Jess pokes her head from the door and she raises an eyebrow when she sees Kara's and Lena's joined hands, but otherwise doesn't visibly react.

  
(She's pretty sure she saw a small smile on Jess' face for a second before it was replaced by a neutral expression.)

  
"I'm going home for the day, will you be alright, Ms. Luthor?"

  
"Of course, Jess, don't let me keep you here on Friday night. Go out and have fun."

  
"Thanks, you too, Ms. Luthor," she chuckles. "Have a nice evening. Make sure she's eating, Ms. Danvers."

  
"Of course!"

  
Jess nods and closes the door. The moment is broken, but Kara is glad to know that Jess truly cares about Lena. Not that she doubted it after the talk they had earlier, but still.

  
Lena shakes her head. "Jess is so fussy sometimes."

  
"I think it's good that she is. I'm glad she cares about you." Now it's Kara's turn to stroke Lena's thumb with hers. "Just so you know, she was angry with me when I got here."

  
"Wait, what?"

  
"Yeah, because I bailed on our lunch date without telling you, among other things. She worries about you."

  
"What other things?"

  
"Uh..." _She asked me to not hurt you and to make you happy_. "Other things."

  
"Do tell."

  
As if on cue, her stomach growls loudly and she blushes beet red while Lena lets out an unlady-like snort. "Well, maybe after we feed the beast, huh?"

  
"Yes! Food sounds good right now! I'm starving."

  
"Your stomach made it very clear," Lena teases.

  
"Oh, hush. I didn't eat lunch because of work! Can you blame me?"

  
"No, of course not." Lena turns her head towards the balcony. The sun is beginning to set, which bathes the balcony and a part of the office in a serene orange ray. "Do you want to eat on the balcony instead? We can watch the sunset and the view is the best in the city, I promise."

  
Kara studies Lena's profile and wonders if she will cut her fingers if she tries to caress that sharp jawline. "Of course."

  
They get up from the couch and Kara very reluctantly lets go of Lena's hand. The other woman smiles at her and heads to the balcony while Kara gathers their food and water and follows Lena outside.

  
The wind is blowing not-so-gently and Kara can smell Lena's shampoo when she gets a face full of black hair. "Oh, sorry!"

  
"It's fine. Your hair smells nice." Right after that, Kara feels like throwing herself from the balcony because _what_. "Soft, too." _Okay, you really need to stop, Danvers_ , she thinks.

  
"You're welcome to use my conditioner anytime," Lena says while sitting down on the balcony floor. "Come here." She taps the spot beside her.

  
Kara sits beside her; their knees are touching and she wants to hold Lena's hand again, but decides against it. "You want to share the fries now?"

  
"Yes, please."

  
Kara takes out the fries and puts them on top of her thigh. She takes six fries at once and nearly chokes when Lena's hand brushes her thigh when she takes a fry from the box.

  
She really needs to stop being so jumpy. Realizing her feelings for Lena makes her really self-conscious and awkward. Well, even more than usual, which is saying something.

  
"Oh, this is good. Where did you buy this?"

  
"This small restaurant on the 7th and 10th. Do you want to go there when we're free?"

  
"I'd like that."

  
"Great!"

  
There's a lull in conversation while they both eat their dinner and Kara belatedly realizes that she kind of just asked Lena out. On a date. Maybe? Is it a date if the other person doesn't know the intent behind the invitation and the asker didn't even realize the intent at first?

  
Ugh, relationships are so tricky. Kara honestly doesn't know how other people do it. Not that this is a relationship or anything. They're just friends.

  
_But you want more than that_ , her traitorous mind supplies.

  
Well yeah, obviously she does, but she doesn't know how to approach it. Even though she's sure Lena likes her back, it doesn't mean she can just blurt out 'hey, we like each other, wanna be girlfriends? Also I'm Supergirl'.

  
Oh Rao, her secret identity is another thing. How should she tell Lena? Even if they don't like each other that way, she'd still want to tell her because the woman is a significant part of her life. Lena is a very good friend, and Kara hates keeping secrets from people close to her.

  
Well, maybe she should finish her dinner first. She can't think on an empty stomach.

  
Kara soon demolishes seven and half roast beef sandwiches in record time and let Lena have half of her sandwich and three-quarter of the fries. She tries not to stare at Lena's throat bobbing up and down when she's drinking, but gosh it's _hard_. Lena's neck is so long and pale and by Rao's light, what she wouldn't give to kiss the mole in the middle of Lena's throat.

  
(And to kiss Lena's neck. And face. And body.

  
She just wants to kiss Lena.)

  
"Kara, you're staring."

  
"Uh." With a heavy heart, she drags her eyes upwards to meet Lena's amused ones. "Sorry."

  
"It's okay. I don't know what's so fascinating about watching me drinking, though."

  
"You're fascinating," she blurts out before she can even stop herself. "Everything you do fascinates me."

  
Lena tilts her head slightly. "Is that so?"

  
"Yes." She's surprised she didn't stutter or blush when she answered Lena's question. The burst of courage is unexpected, but she's going to hold to it.

  
Which lasts for 0.02 second, since Lena just stares at her instead of responding. She starts to fidget under Lena's gaze and she has to hold herself back from crushing the bottle in her hand to dust.

  
"You fascinate me too, Kara," Lena finally says while capping her water bottle. "I don't... this is the first time I've ever feel this strongly towards anyone," she whispers. "I'm not used to people like you, Kara. Someone that genuinely cares about me without asking for something in return. It's so _strange_." Lena's voice drops even lower and Kara has to strain her ears to listen. "I like you, Kara. A lot. Feeling things... it scares me, but you're worth taking the risk. Do you... do you want to explore whatever this is with me?"

  
Kara drops her bottle and she can feel her blood rushing in her ears. Lena looks calm, but there's a hopeful glint in her eyes and her heart beats so fast Kara is scared Lena is having a cardiac arrest. "R-really?"

  
"Really." Kara detects a tremble in Lena's voice and it gives her some comfort that Lena is nervous about this, too. Lena Luthor is nervous about exploring their relationship to the next level.

  
"YES!" Lena is taken aback from Kara's shout and she internally cringes. "I mean, yes, of course I'd like to!" Kara coughs.

  
She knows Lena is beautiful, but to see her smile like this? Like she has no burdens or worries or problems on her back? Like she's free? Like, dare Kara say, smitten by her, Kara Danvers of Midvale... no, Kara Zor-El of Argo City in Krypton...

  
Holy Rao, Krypton!

  
"Lena, I have to tell you something before we do this."

  
"What is it?"

  
Kara swallows nervously. She opens and closes her mouth a few times; too nervous to find the appropriate words to let Lena know who she really is.

  
So she opts to show Lena instead.

  
"Kara? I know you just bought me dinner, but stripping on my balcony is too soon, don't you think?"

  
Kara splutters, her fingers slips from the second button on her blouse. "What? No! I just want to show you something!"

  
"That something being your bra?"

  
Kara is pretty sure all of her blood is rushing to her face right now. "Imsupergirlandmyrealnameiskarazorelpleasedonthateme!"

  
"What? I didn't catch that, can you say it again?"

  
Kara inhales deeply, trying hard not to hyperventilate. "I'm Supergirl, and my real name is Kara Zor-El. Please don't hate me!" She finally unbuttons her blouse completely, letting Lena see her family's coat of arms on her blue suit.

  
Lena blinks. "Oh, I thought you were going to strip for me. Well, in that case, I already knew a long time ago."

  
"Wait, what?!"

  
"Kara, your disguise is a ponytail, pastel cardigans, and a pair of glasses. You ate a week's worth of lunch maybe fifteen minutes earlier without feeling sick. You said you flew here on a bus," Lena chuckles. "But the most telling is how I feel around Supergirl and how Supergirl looks at me."

  
"H-how?"

  
"I feel the same warmth towards Supergirl like I do towards you. Supergirl looks at me exactly like how you look at me. That night on the gala? No offense, but I was having fun seeing you try to be two people at once." Kara pouts and Lena gives her a half-smile. "Also, you smell like her and you have the exact same scar like hers," she says while caressing the scar between Kara's eyebrows with her fingertips. "How can I not realize you're Supergirl?"

  
"Lena..."

  
"Alright, I also ran your face through my facial recognition software," she mutters.

  
"Of course you did, you big nerd."

  
"Hey, but you like this big nerd anyway."

  
"That I do."

  
"I'm glad." Lena leans forward again for the second time today and Kara closes her eyes in anticipation.

  
She doesn't expect Lena to kiss her scar instead of, say, her _lips_. Oh well, she can't complain. Lena Luthor just kissed her, for God's sake. Even if it wasn't on the place that she wants the most.

  
"I like you so much, Kara Danvers," Lena mumbles and Kara can feel Lena press their foreheads together.

  
"I like you so much too, Lena Luthor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The part where Lena is an orphan because her parents were killed during The Troubles (so that her accent would make sense) was inspired from an ask I've read on supercorpppp's tumblr. My dumb ass forgot to reblog it (so that I could link it), but it was from there.
> 
> Kara might look a bit too thirsty and bold, but remember how she acted towards James in S1. When she's all !!!! about her feelings, she's obvious about it.
> 
> Visit me on [my tumblr](http://lordslacker.tumblr.com), it's gay.


End file.
